Danish are even worse –

June 11, 2020 – Is the poppy seed warning accurate or just an urban myth? A group of researchers wanted to find out, so they ran a series of tests to measure opiate levels in commercially available poppy seeds. They washed, steamed and heated the seeds to see how that changed concentrations of three opium alkaloids: morphine, codeine and thebaine. 

Washing or soaking the poppy seeds in water significantly reduced the presence of all three opium alkaloids. So did heating the seeds at a temperature of 392 F for at least 40 minutes.

However, baking the seeds in a muffin for 16 minutes at 392 F didn’t significantly change the opium alkaloids, possibly because the internal and external temperatures of the muffins reached only 211 F and 277 F, respectively. 

“Baking had no significant effect on concentrations of opium alkaloids. Overall, these results indicate that opium alkaloids may not be significantly affected by baking or steam application and that poppy seeds may require water washing or extended thermal treatment to promote reduction of these compounds,” said lead author Benjamin Redan, PhD, a research chemist who works in the FDA’s Institute for Food Safety and Health.

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